UFC Cuts A Good Thing for Other Promotions and MMA in General

Whenever a fighter is given his walking papers by the UFC, the MMA community leaps to make it a more complex issue than it is. Conspiracy theories abound; expletives are hurled in Dana White’s direction; fans make the declaration that they’ll never again pay for a UFC Pay-Per-View, now that their favorite fighter has been released.

But the truth is, these cuts are often beneficial for the sport of mixed martial arts overall.

There are plenty of fledgling promotions out there struggling to obtain elite fighters to fill their roster, and when the UFC gets to cutting, these guys take to capitalizing.

Perennial top 10 welterweight Jon Fitch was recently released from his duties as a UFC employee following a lopsided defeat to Demian Maia. Well, he’s now headed to the World Series of Fighting, where he should bring name recognition and some fire to their welterweight division.

And speaking of the World Series of Fighting, fellow former castaways Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson also compete for the young company. They bring name value and legitimate skill.

The truth is, if the UFC isn’t pleased with a fighter or his performances, cuts can be a good thing. It’s evident that the UFC runs a monopoly on this sport, and that makes it quite challenging for upstart promotions to thrive. A company has to house quality competitors with stock in their name if they hope to ever rise above the depths of constant struggle.

With the UFC’s decision to regularly “trim the fat” so to speak, smaller promotions are being gifted a chance to sign quality fighters, which only adds diversity in the grand scheme of mixed martial arts.

Keep dishing out the pink slips Dana, you’re only making your competitors stronger, albeit it slowly!